Need Help with ProtoLARs operation?

[Apogee10]

I am using PL lumberyard on my route to unload General Goods. In the Consume section the Size is set to 256(default). I set the Rate to 256 and the Initial to 0. I set the Unload value to 256. I have each station set up to unload 1 car in the consist. I do this by setting the station to load/unload 1 car at a time and setting a lengthy time between cars. The consist drives away before the 2nd car can unload. Most of the time this setup works fine.

Occasionally the cars will not unload and occasionally two cars will unload at the same time.

I don't know enough about the workings of ProtoLARs to diagnose the events. What do the values in the Consume and Unload sections mean? If the car doesn't unload does this mean that the station doesn't need goods?
Why would two cars unload at the same time when I've set unload one car at a time?

BTW I set the Produce values to 0.

I have read the tutorials but they don't really explain the operation. I would appreciate any explanation anyone can provide.

Earl

 

[Jayturf]

you need to align the car directly over the PL track. I believe that if you have 2 cars over the track it will load both thinking that they are one...maybe. Use the PL markers available from trainz pro routes. I use trackmarks and a lot of trial and error to get the alignment right.

 

[Apogee10]

Thanks Jayturf

Here is what I have learned from my experimentation. When using PL the car alignment doesn't appear critical. I have a consist with 6 cars. I can drive to 3 stations and the unload will result in 3 empty cars and 3 loaded cars. I can drive to a fourth station and have the empty cars aligned with the markers.
The 4th car will still unload. If I'm not mistaken with PL as long as any car/cars align with the track load/unload will work(not so with LARs).

What I don't understand is the random operation. I thought it might have something to do with quantities unloaded. That's why I am seeking information on the inner working of PL. I assume the script keeps count of Produce, Consume, Load, and Unload but can find no info about it. The random operation seems to occur when I repeatedly switched from Driver to Surveyor to Driver while making edit changes, but I'm not sure why that would matter. It's almost as if PL keeps a memory until Trainz is completely shut down.

Earl